5 Orange Potatoes » felt

easy pipecleaner and felt ghost

5 Orange Potatoes — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 00:14:48 +0000

This little ghost is very simple and requires very little sewing. After you make one, it shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes to make another so you can have all kinds of little ghosties haunting your place!

For this wee little ghostie you need:
white embroidery floss (or thread) and needle
white felt
18mm wood bead
white pipe-cleaner
black pen
glue

Directions:
1. Cut the white felt into a circle that measures 4 1/4″ across; it does not have to be a perfect circle.
2. Bend the pipe-cleaner in half, make a “w” to form the legs, and then form the arms and neck. Bend the bottom of the legs to form feet.

3. Twist the neck and arms to secure the form. Put a lot of glue into the hole of the bead and stick the bead onto the neck.
4. Cover the wood bead with glue, find the center of the felt circle and cover the bead.

5. Pinch the felt on both sides of the head to make the typical ghost form, take the needle through both layers and stitch together. Stitch the front and back pieces by taking the needle through both layers from the side of the head following along the bottom of the bead.

6. Draw eyes and a mouth on your ghostie with the black pen, then place him in the window to scare away any ghouls or goblins.

Happy Autumn!
“That’s all,”
Lisa

Stay updated by joining my FACEBOOK page by clicking HERE and visit my Etsy shop HERE.

valentine owl tutorial

5 Orange Potatoes — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 16:54:27 +0000

Owl lovers like myself know the need for a valentine owl! Araina (7yo) made the green owl below, I made the pink one (I like hers better).

you need:

gold felt
black felt
2 different colors of brown felt (or contrasting colors of choice)
pink felted sweater (or color of choice)
hot pink felted sweater (or color of choice)
gold, pink, black, and brown cotton emb. floss (to match choice colors)
scissors
sewing needle
wool or polyfill stuffing (or fabric scraps, paper, tissues)
sewing machine (optional)

*To felt sweaters, use 100% wool sweaters, place in a HOT washer, add 2 tablespoons soap, and wash. Then dry in a hot dryer.

to make:

1. Cut out pieces and parts from felt and/or thrifted sweaters. I used thrifted sweaters for the light pink body, heart, and oval shaped bottom (not pictured); and felt for the eyes, wings, and beak.

2. With right side pieces of owl body facing each other, stitch around the shape of the owl with a machine or hand sew; leave the bottom open. Turn right side out.
3. Stitch the eyes to the heart face mask. For all stitching details visit this post.

4. Stitch the face mask to the body.

5. Stitch on the beak.

6. Stitch the wings together making sure to stitch all 4 (or 3).

6. Stitch both sets of wings to the owl body.

7. Stitch optional heart onto the owl.

8. Sew bottom onto owl, leaving a space to stuff.
9. Stuff and stitch closed.

10. Place little valentine owl in a happy place.

Happy sewing!

“That’s all,”
Lisa

how to make a dream pillow- moon phases free pattern

5 Orange Potatoes — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 21:28:14 +0000

I like to give my little ladies new dream pillows every year on the night of the winter solstice. I started this tutorial back in July of 2009, but never got around to finishing it. Seriously, this post has been sitting, partially finished, in my dashboard for over a year! I felt now was a great time to share the pattern and how to.

What you need:
gray felt
yellow felt
black cotton emb. floss
yellow cotton emb. floss

silver shiny emb. floss
straight pins
scissors

dry herbs

wool or polyfill stuffing

dream pillow patterns

Step 1- Cutting out the moon shapes

You should have 3 pieces: 2 full moons and one crescent moon. Pin the crescent moon onto one of the gray circles. Leave the other gray circle as is, this will be your full moon piece.

Step 2: The detailing **Click on the orange links for “stitch how to”

I used the split stitch for the details in the moon. Split stitch the eye and craters on the crescent moon side of the pillow.

Now split stitch the eyes and craters on the full moon piece.

Whip stitch the crescent moon to it’s gray backing.

Step 3: Stitching the moons together

Put right sides together of both moons now. Blanket stitch or whip stitch the moons together, leaving a small opening for stuffing and the herbs. I did a blanket stitch here.

Step 4: Add dried herbs and filling. Stitch closed.

I like to add dried lavender buds or rosemary to their pillows because we grow it organically in our garden. Here’s a little list to work with, you can mix and match but make sure the odor is pleasant and not over bearing.

Herbs for the pillow-

angelica : prophetic dreams and visions
anise: use a little to repel nightmares
bay laurel: inspiration; repels negativity
cedar: repel bad dreams
cloves: retrieves buried memories; use sparingly
hops: restful sleep and healing
lavender: calming and helps to fall asleep
marjoram: relieves depression
mugwort: visions and prophetic dreams
mullein: repels bad dreams
rosemary: avoid nightmares and headaches; great for memory; use sparingly
st. johns wort: banishes spirits

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Little Etsy shop update- I have a new kitty design, there is still free shipping and the 15% off total purchase sale will go on through the week until Sunday evening (for 5orangepotatoes blog readers only). Type in SNOW15 at checkout to get the 15% off the total purchase. I will ship daily until the 19Th- there is still time to order and receive before Christmas. If you don’t see something in my shop that you had your eye on or want a different color let me know, I can possibly take custom orders through Friday (hit the contact button under my fox picture at the shop). Thank you all who have made my shop so successful through this giving time of the year! I really appreciate your business and have loved getting to know a lot of you!

“That’s all.”

chipmunk and hedgehog plush

5 Orange Potatoes — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 02:18:47 +0000

A new design- Chubby Cheeked Chipmunk. She’s made from thrifted herringbone pants, soft wool sweaters, and wool blend felt. She carries an extra acorn in her pocket for emergencies.

I still LOVE making hedgehogs! This is Olivia the tea party loving hedgehog.

Both have been added to my 5 Orange Potatoes Etsy shop. I have 5 shows that I’m vending between now and Christmas, I will have to close my shop periodically for a day or even a weekend because I bring the critters from my Etsy shop to the shows. If there is something you see there, be forewarned it might not be there after a show (he, he, no pressure or anything!). I will also be adding the the shop a lot in the next few weeks before Christmas….with FREE SHIPPING. Sorry to be all “shop talk” but this is my life for the time being.

“That’s all!”

choco the winky bunny

5 Orange Potatoes — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 20:36:11 +0000

Introducing Choco the winky bunny, new to the shop today. She is a very flirty little bunny that loves chocolate and strawberries. You won’t catch her kissing any toads!

I am so thrilled with how she turned out! Lots of spunk and sass with a butterfly tattoo on her bum and a heart tattoo on her ear! To see more photos and read more about Choco visit the 5 Orange Potatoes etsy shop. Hope to see you there. SOLD!